Welted shoe and the manufacture



Dec. 18, 1934. n w BUNKER WELTED SHOE AND THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF Filed Dec. 14, 1951' I 0 m W Patented Dec. 18, 1934 UNITED STATES WELTED snor: AND THE MANUFACTURE' THEREOF Darius W. Bunker, Quincy, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J a corporationof New Jersey Application December 14, 1931, Serial No. 580,781

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in shoes and methods of manufacturing shoes and is herein disclosed with respect to the manufacture of a welted shoe having a cement-attached outsole.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a superior shoe having a cement-attached outsole. In accordance with this object, the i1- lustrated shoe has its outsole cement attached to a narrow welt which is secured to the shoe upper and insole by means of a seameach of the stitches of which has a single thread at the surface of the welt. The use of a seam of this sort, whether lockstitch or chain-stitch, with a single thread at the surface of the welt presents an excellent condition for the attachment of sales by cement. In the manufacture of shoes of this general type it is usually desired to produce a light effect, theedge of the sole being thin and closely trimmed. Accordingly, a thin, light-weight welt should be used. Such a welt can have only a shallow groove if, indeed, it is grooved at all, and,

. therefore, if the welt is attached by a chainstitch seam with the chain at the surface of the welt, as is usual in the manufacture of Goodyear Welt shoes, the stitches project, forming, as it were, a ridge extending lengthwise of the welt and adjacent to the edge surfaces provided by the inseam trimming operation. This prevents the trimming of the inseam as closely as is desirable, prevents the best sort of cement sole attaching, tends to form air-pockets in the cement along the seam, and interferes with the' closest edge trimming. 'With a single thread of each stitch engaging the welt, however, and particularly with a relatively fine thread lying at least partially in a shallow groove formed in the welt and flat upon its surface, the inseam can be trimmed closely without danger of injuring the stitching, there being no such ridge of thread formed as that referred to above. Moreover, the

elimination of the ridge of thread mentioned is in effect a slip noose and during the insertion,

of the scam the pull of the thread, as the stit'ch is drawn up, pulls the welt and the upper firmly into the angle between the lip and the feather of the insole. In the insertion of a chain-stitch seam the maximum pull on the thread is from the side of the seam on which the single thread lies toward the side on which the chain lies and from this it follows that the insertion of the seam and in no way interferes with the formation of 1 a perfect shoe bottom for the reception of an outsole.

In the manufacture of shoes the outsoles of which are cement attached directly to the shoe uppers, difficulty is often met with by reason of the use of leathers in the shoe uppers which are not well adapted to the obtaining of a secure bond by means of the sole attaching medium, whichin present-day practice is commonly pyroxylin cement. when the sole is cemented to a welt since the welt can be, and the light and narrow welt herein disclosed is, made from leather carefully selected with a view to its suitability to this "purpose and having a fibre of the character best adapted to provide a good condition for a pyroxylin cement bond.

In another aspect this invention is characterized by the use of a narrow, and preferably also These difiiculties are easily eliminated thin, welt in the manufacture of welted shoes having cement-attached soles. Preferably I use welting substantially of an inch wide and at; of an inch or less in thickness. Such a welt is much more flexible than the wider and heavier welting commonly used in the manufacture of Goodyear Welt shoes, the outsoles of which are stitched-to the welt, and therefore helps greatly. in bringing out the lines of the last effectively, particularly if, after the inseam trimming operation, the inseam is rolled or pounded thoroughly. Narrow welting, moreover, has markedly less tendency to pucker Where the periphery of the shoe bottom is curved and to tend to move away from the outsole during the cement sole attaching operation- It permits the outsole to be prepared of a minimum size, only the merest trifle larger than the size to which it is to be. finished, and facilitates the edge trimming of the outsole very close to the shoe upper, as is generally desirable in the womens light-weight shoes to which this process is particularly applicable. The light edge trimming required with such a narrow welt is, moreover, conducive to a uniform edge thickness when the marginal portion of the sole is reduced in thickness on a long bevel, as is often done in the course of the preparation of the sole for cement attachment.

While I have mentioned T's of an inch as the preferred width of welting, it should be understood that this is not the minimum which is ever practicable. Welting of an inch wide can be used under some conditions. However, it requires greater care, particularly in the welt attaching, inseam trimming and some of the other operations performed after the attaching of the welt to the shoe bottom and prior to the cement attaching of the sole. Wider welting, on the other hand, has a greater tendency to bend or roll toward the shoe upper under the sole attaching pressure and, since the edge portion of the sole must be pressed forcibly against the welt to secure a firm attachment of the sole, sufficient pressure must be applied to roll the edge of the sole also. This is particularly troublesome at the toe of the shoe where the relatively sharp curvature of the periphery of the shoe causes the welt to bend toward and hug the shoe upper more snugly than anywhere else. With welting of usual dimensions this necessitates not only a vigorous welt beating operation but also. slashing of the welt. With the light and narrow welt which I use, the beating or other operation utilized to separate the welt from the upper and to cause it to lie in the plane of the shoe bottom may be performed much more gently, thereby obviating all danger of injury to the inseam, and the slashing may be much reduced and in many instances entirely eliminated.

Moreover, if the sole attaching pressure is applied, as it often is, by or while the shoe is resting on an airor water-filled rubber pad, excessive pressure may cause the rubber wall of the pad to bulge over the welt and, if a relatively wide welt is used, into the crease between the welt and the shoe upper. This difficulty is entirely obviated by the use of the narrow inch welting and correspondingly fitted outsoles. Moreover, even when the cement sole attaching proceeds in a normal fashion with the usual wider welting, the rolling of the welt and the edge of the sole toward the shoe upper produces an edge trimming condition which often requires a laborious boning out of the welt and the edge of the sole before the edge trimming can be done. With the narrow welt, on the other hand, such slight boning out as may be required is easily and quickly performed. Having in mind all factors, I regard about {a of an inch as the best width for the welt.

The lightness or thinness of the welt aids materially in getting the inseam where it belongs, since it reduces and practically eliminates the tendency of the welt and the upper to bridge across the angle between the feather and the lip of the insole. This is particularly important in the neighborhood of the heel breast line where there is a notable tendency, by reason, for example, of the extra thickness imparted by the presence of the counter, for the inseam to be too far out. line, moreover, is a portion of the shoe which is frequently troublesome in the manufacture of light-weight shoes. If the shoes are to have wooden Louis heels, difficulties are often met with by reason of the great excess in thickness of the sole and welt as compared with the thinness of the end of the overhanging breast portion of the heel. ,A reduction in thickness of the welting minimizes such difiiculties.

'ture of economy insoles.

The neighborhood of the heel breast The invention in various of its aspects comproved shoe and improved methods for use in the manufacture of shoes. r

With the above and other objects in view the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an economy insole preparedfor use in the manufacture of shoes in accordance -with.my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a shoe which has been lasted and welted in accordance with my invention; v

Fig. 3 is a view on a much enlarged scale showing a cross section of welting which may be used in manufacturing shoes in accordance with my invention; I

Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective views, partly in section, illustrating the attachment of the welt with chain-stitch and lockstitch seams respectively;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a shoe in process of manufacture in accordance with my inven-- tion, illustrating the shoe after the inseam trimming operation has been performed; and

Fig. 7 is a. sectional view of a portion of the forepart of the completed shoe.

As disclosed herein theinsole 10 is channeled, thereby providing flaps 12 and 14 which are turned up to form a lip or rib 15. The outer channel which provides the flap 14 should extend inwardly about of an inch at the forepart, and may extend inwardly as much as of an inch at the shank portion of the shoe. After the lip 15 has been set the insole may be reinforced with a piece of fabric 16, as is usual in the manufacmounted on a last 18 and an upper 20 is assembled on the last and pulled over in the usual manner, the upper being then worked into lasted relation and secured in that relation by, for example, staples 22 (Fig. 2) driven through the marginal portion of the upper and the lip of the insole, and extending from about the heel breast.

line to the tip line of the shoe. This operation may be performed, if desired, on a side lasting machine of the character illustrated in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,796,451, granted March 17, 1931, on an application filed in the name of George Goddu. After the side lasting operation the toe and the heel seat may be lasted with the aid of a bed lasting machine in the manner ordinarily used in the manufacture of Goodyear Welt shoes, or in any other suitable way.

The shoe is then welted. As illustrated, a welt 24 is attached by stitching 26 (Fig. 6), known as the inseam, each stitch of which has a portion engaging or lying at the surface of the welt, a portion extending through the welt, the shoe upper and the between substance at the base of the lip 15 of the insole on a curve approximately parallel to the plane of the shoe bottom (shown at 28 in Fig. 2), and a portion lying on the surface of the insole at the base of the lip. As illustrated in Fig. 4, the welt 24 is attached by a chain-stitch seam each stitch of which has a single thread 30 at the surface of the welt, the chain 32 of the seam lying against the reinforced fabric 16 in the gutter .34 resulting from the formation of the inner flap 12 and located at the base of the lip 15. In Fig. 5 the welt is illustrated as attached by a lockstitch seam 38 each stitch of which also The insole is .then

has a single thread at the surface of the welt as well as a single thread in the gutter. 34 at the base of the lip 12. The thread used for the inseam 26 is preferably of linen and should be substantially lighter, that is of less diameter, than the thread commonly used for the inseams of womens light-weight Goodyear Welt shoes. Such a light thread is helpful in that it minimizes the material between the welt 24 and the outsole 50 of the shoe and thus permits. a thinner welt and greater reduction in the thickness of the edge portion of the sole than would otherwise be practicable. Moreover, there is less strain on the inseam than in a comparable Goodyear Welt shoe having its outsole stitched to its welt since in the herein described shoe the sole is bonded by cement not only to the welt but also to the edge surfaces of the upper and the lip of the insole, and this, of course, reduces the strain on the inseam.

The welt 24 is advantageously about of an inch wide and from to 1/30 of an inch thick. If it is desired to give an extremely thin edge effect to the sole the welt 24 should be as light as practicable. I have found .that welting no more than 1/30 of an inch thick may be used in the manufacture of shoes in accordance with my invention. Such a welt is so light that it can have only the shallowest sort of a groove, if any,-not much more than a mere scratch. With such a groove, indicated (on an enlarged scale) at 41 in Fig. 3, or even with no groove at all, and with a v ing the staples 22, leaving a flat surface 42 (Figs.

' maybe beaten, and slashed if necessary, with the well-known welt beating and slashing machine commonly used in the manufacture of Goodyear Welt shoes. Then the surface 42 produced by the inseam trimming operationshould be thoroughly rolled, for example with the automatic leveling machine used for leveling the outsole of Goodyear Welt shoes. Bottom filler, indicated at 48 in Fig. '7, should be used sparingly.

, If a particularly narrow shank is desired the welt 24 may be trimmed or knifed ou in the shank portion of the shoe, close to the inseam, at the inner side of the shank or evenat both sides, as indicated by the dot-and-dash line 46 in Fig. 6.

The welt 24 and the adjacent portion of the shoe bottom,'particularly the surface 42 produced by the inseam trimming operation, are roughened and coated with pyroxylin cement. A suitably prepared outsole, the margin of which may be reduced to any desired extent at the forepart and shank, is also coated with pyroxylin cement. After the cement on the shoe bottom and on the sole has set the cement on one or both of these parts is activated with a suitable softener, such for example as that disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,959,320, granted May 15, 1934, on an application filed in the name of Walter H. Wedger, and the sole and shoe are applied to each other and placed under sole attaching pressure, for example in a pad box of the cement sole attaching machine disclosed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,897,105

granted February 14, 1933, in the name of Milton H. Ballard. While under pressure, the narrow welt is supported by the feather of the insole which, in turn, is backed up by the last. Hence there is direct pressure of the outsole against the welt so supported, with the result that the outsole is united not only to' the trimmed edges of the welt, upper, lining and lip but to the welt margin, thus sealing the joint between the welt and sole and preventing the cement joint from being pried open. After the cement has set the shoe is removed from the pad box and is finished ,in the usual manner.

inner and outer lip the insole might be formed.

with a rib comprising an inner lip, either with or without an outer shoulder. Nor is it essential that the insole be reinforced as herein disclosed; and other variations will doubtless occur to those skilled in the shoe manufacturing art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A shoe having a welt secured to its upper and insole by a lock-stitch seam each stitch of which has a single thread engaging the welt, and an Outsole permanently cement attached,to the welt and to the adjacent portion only of the shoe bottom.

2. A shoe having an upper, a ribbed insole, a welt and an outsole, the welt being secured to the marginal portion of the upper and to the between-' substance at the base of the rib of the insole by a seem the thread of which'passes through the inner portion of the welt, the marginal portion of the upper, and the between-substance in lines approximately parallel to the plane of the shoe bottom, each of the stitches having a single thread at the surface of the welt, the materials of the shoe adjacent to the seam being trimmed close to the single thread and substantially in the plane of the central portion of the insole, and the outsole being permanently cement-attached to the welt and the adjacent trimmed portions of the shoe -bottom only.

3. A shoe having an upper, a ribbed insole hav ing the inner'surface of its rib and its bottom inside of the rib reinforced with a woven fabric; a welt and an outsole, the welt being secured tothe marginal portion of the upper and to the between-substance at the base of the rib of the insole by a seam the thread of which passes through the inner portion of the welt, the marginal portion of the upper and the between-substance in curves approximately parallel to the plane of the shoe bottom, each of the stitches having a single thread at the surface of the welt, the materials of the shoe adjacent to the seam being trimmed close to the single thread and substantially in the plane of the central portion of the insole, and the outsole being permanently cement attached to the welt and the adjacent trimmed portion of the shoe bottomonly.

4. That improvement in methods of manufacturing shoes which comprises mounting on a last an insole having a lip extending peripherally thereof adjacent to its edge, securing a shoe upp in lasted relation to the insole by fastenings passing through the upper and the lip of the insole, thereafter securing a welt to the shoe upper and the insole by an inseam comprising stitches passing through the welt, the upper and the betweensubstance at the base of the lip of the insole, each of which stitches has a single thread engaging the welt, inseam-trimming the shoe and thereby removing the fastenings, the surplus portion of the upper, the inner edge of the welt and the lip 01' the insole close to the single thread or the inseam and thereby producing a flat surface 'approximately in the plane of the bottom'oi the insole, rolling the inseam still iurther to flatten the shoe bottom and to reduce the amount of filling required, and permanently cement attaching an outsole to the welt and said flat surface only.

5. That improvement in methods of manufacturing shoes which comprises working a shoe upper into lasted relation to a lipped insole, attaching a welt substantially oi. an inch wide and not more than about a; of an inch thick to the lasted shoe upper and to the between substance at the base of the lip of the insole by an inseam each stitch of which has a single thread at the surface of the Walt and at the base of the lip on its inner side, trimming oil the surplus portion-of the material of the shoe parts close to the single threads of the stitches at the surface of the welt and at the base of the lip, permanently cement attaching an outsole to the welt and to the adjacent trimmed edges or the welt, the upper, the linin and the insole lip only, and edge trimming the sole close to the single threads of the stitching at the surface of the welt.

DARIUS W. BUNKER 

